Torch's design evokes Yangtze River, city wall

In the run-up to the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games in August, the games' torch was shown to the public for the first time in a ceremony at Nanjing Green Expo Garden on Sunday.

It is part of a Youth Olympic Culture Festival for the games that runs from March 22 to 30.

Named The Door of Happiness, the torch is predominantly blue, representing the Yangtze River that runs through the host city Nanjing, designers said.

A silver cover shaped like the letter "n" across the surface indicates the ancient city wall above the river.

The torch is shaped like a teenager with a silver cape standing straight in the wind.

"The torch image is young and energetic, and it represents the dream of making a new world with all the young people around the world," said an official from the organizing committee.

With the theme of "hurray for the youth", the festival features a carnival, a concert, martial arts displays, and the cultural and educational events.

A total of 13 activities selected from 100 suggestions were approved by the culture and education bureau of the organizing committee to be held during the festival.

The opening ceremony of the festival unveiled both the torch and the costume of torchbearers.

In the carnival that followed, 63 cultural cabins attracted the most attention as they displayed cultures and folk arts from 63 countries. The committee will move the cabins to the Youth Olympic Village by the time the games begins.

The carnival also offered visitors a taste of Olympic events such as rock climbing and volleyball.

Thousands of students from the city and some 300 from overseas attended the ceremony and carnival.

Four cultural and educational programs related to the games targeted at the youth have begun on Tuesday to promote the coming games and test public response to such events.

They include a journey to the city wall built in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), an innovative cooking workshop, mountain climbing and a field trip to an ecological base.

fuchao@chinadaily.com.cn